Looking for guidance on improving my existing gaming PC setup!
Looking for guidance on improving my existing gaming PC setup!
I've been using this setup for several years now. It was the top-of-the-line model when it was bought, but I think it's becoming increasingly outdated. In newer games, I tend to set the graphics to medium, lower the resolution to 1080p, and keep shadows at their lowest level. Despite these adjustments, I still struggle to maintain 60 FPS.
My monitor is a 27-inch 1440p, 144Hz display, and I really don’t see much benefit from changing the graphics settings. It just doesn’t suit my needs anymore.
Outside of gaming, I occasionally do light photo editing for work, but not very often.
I’m expecting my annual bonus soon, which will give me about $1400 to upgrade my PC. I’m not sure where to start or which components to focus on first.
Here’s the current build list:
PCPartPicker Part List:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/spyJZJ
CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 64.95 CFM
Thermal Compound: Noctua NT-H1 3.5 g Thermal Paste
Motherboard: MSI Z370 SLI PLUS ATX LGA1151
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2800 CL15
Storage: Western Digital Green 240 GB M.2-2280 SATA SSD
Internal Hard Drive: Toshiba DT01ACA100 1 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM
Storage: Seagate BarraCuda 1 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM
Video Card: Zotac AMP GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB
Case: Deepcool MATREXX 55 V3 ADD-RGB 3F ATX Mid Tower
Power Supply: Corsair RM650x (2018) 650 W, 80+ Gold Certified
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit
Monitor: Dell S2716DG 27.0" 2560 x 1440 144 Hz
Mouse: Corsair K55 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard
Headphones: HP HyperX Cloud Revolver S 7.1 Channel
Speakers: Logitech Z150 Speakers
Any suggestions on what to do next?
I would really appreciate any advice!
This setup seems very well balanced. It should still perform well at 1080/60/mid for most games. You could actually create a completely new system for around $1400. If you concentrate on the CPU, motherboard, and RAM, the card might limit performance. However, if you go with the card, the main components could be the bottleneck. I believe if I had the chance and was using your monitor, I’d prioritize a new main board, CPU, RAM, a solid upgrade to power supply, and storage for the operating system. This would ensure the card can fully utilize the 1080/75 display you have. After that, using any remaining funds to upgrade your GPU would be feasible without spending much more than Starbucks for a few weeks.
Thanks for the reply!
I have two monitors set up, with my secondary being 1080/75 and the main one at 1440/144. This limits my ability to use the main monitor fully, which is why I'm considering an upgrade.
The greater the resolution, the more tasks are shifted to the GPU. In this scenario, it might be beneficial to invest in a graphics card that matches your desired performance and a power supply that can handle it safely. Looking ahead, there could still be budget options to explore for the motherboard, CPU, or RAM.
First, find out how limiting your 8700K is. Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy. This makes the graphics card loaf a bit. If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration. If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited. If you are graphics limited, a graphics card upgrade is easy, if not pricey. Tom's gpu hierarchy chart will give you some idea: You should probably skip the next tier and look for 3070 class or better. To do that, you will need to upgrade your excellent 650w psu for something like 850w or more. If you are cpu limited, you can get some 25% better performance by overclocking. Past that you are looking at a new cpu, motherboard and possibly ram if 16gb is limiting you. I might think I5-14600K would be a good upgrade. Your NH-D14 will cool any intel chip out there adequately and noctua will send you a free lg1700 upgrade kit. There is a continuous spectrum of price/performance. If you don't know, I3/i5/i7/i9 no longer indicate number of cores and hyperthreading. It is now a general performance category. You will get recommendations for amd and radeon that are reasonable, but I think since you are now in the intel/nvidia camp, it will be simpler to stick with that. On ram, ddr4 and ddr5 performs comparably with DDR4 parts being a bit cheaper. Most will suggest a 2 x 16gb DDR5 ram kit and I would agree. No big benefit from chasing extra fast ram. Unlike ryzen, intel does not need fast ram for performance. 240gb is a bit small for the C drive. Repurpose your hdd as an external back up device. I would try to buy a single 2tb m.2 ssd for everything. If all this does not fit your current budget, upgrade the gpu/psu first.
Thank you for your comments! Based on your budget, it might be feasible to upgrade to the items listed. I’m considering the PSU, storage, GPU, and CPU upgrades. Your thoughts are welcome—would there be any compatibility concerns with your current motherboard? Also, regarding the RAM, do you think 32GB is really needed, or would 16GB suffice for gaming? I don’t stream much but watch YouTube occasionally.
Apologies! You're correct, the version on your link is the accurate one.